Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Long Island Mac Arthur Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kings Park, New York 11754
Thursday, May 4, 2006 10:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The helicopter was in cruise flight, about 1,400 feet above ground level, when the flight instructor heard a "rumbling" from beneath and behind the cockpit. Soon after, the rumbling became louder, the oil temperature increased, the oil pressure dropped to "zero," and the engine stopped producing power. The flight instructor adjusted the flight controls for autorotation, and selected a high school athletic field for the forced landing. He attempted to extend the helicopter's glide to reach the field, while maintaining rotor rpm. Just prior to touchdown, the tail of the helicopter struck the athletic field's perimeter fence, which resulted in a loss of control, and collision with terrain. Examination of the helicopter's engine revealed that the oil suction screen was completely occluded by metal particles. The number 3 cylinder was removed, and the associated piston and connecting rod were stuck in the cylinder bore. The connecting rod was fractured at the yoke, and free of the crankshaft. The connecting rod cap was fragmented, and the fragments were found scattered in the oil sump. The number 3 connecting rod bearing material was completely extruded and fragmented, and a mode of failure could not be determined. Examination of the engine maintenance records revealed that the engine had accrued 2,157 total hours of operation, 759 total hours since overhaul, and 90 total hours since the number 1 cylinder assembly was replaced due to low compression and a broken piston ring.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Loss of engine power due to the failure of the number 3 connecting rod bearing. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the emrgency landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/4/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Kings Park |
| Event State | NEW YORK |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 11754 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405126N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0731028W |
| Event Location Airport | Long Island Mac Arthur |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KISP |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 6 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 99 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1056 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ISP |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 99 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 5 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 12 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 300 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.85 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21007 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 4 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 26 2007 11:14AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Farmingdale, NY |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N38DM |
| NTSB Number | NYC06LA106 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Schweizer |
| Aircraft Model | 269C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1458 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2050 |
| Aircraft Category | Helicopter |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 90 |
| Airframe Hours | 2157 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wings Air, LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 136 Tower Road #M |
| Aircraft Owner City | White Plains |
| Aircraft Owner State | NY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 10604 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | ISP |
| Departure City | ISLIP |
| Departure State | NY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | HPN |
| Destination City | WHITE PLAINS |
| Destination State | NY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 9 2006 12:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |